There are basically two types of barrows. The oldest are the Neolithic Long Barrows such as Belas Knap in Gloucestershire and West Kennett in Wiltshire. The later are Round Barrows which date from the Bronze Age (c.2000 - 700 BC), and these in turn can be sub-divided into at least thirteen types (2). Barrows usually consist of a stone box chamber which contain the body and sometimes the possesions of the deceased. The chamber is usualy covered with earth. They sometimes stand in high places, acting as landmarks, and were constructed of various types and colours of earth and soil, making them even more prominent in the landscape. There are even suggestions that barrows were constructed to mimic prominent landscape features(3). They are a central feature to the study of leys and earth mysteries. A good example of barrows and alignments comes from Uppsala in Sweden. There is a remarkable alignment of approximately six fifth to sixth century barrows which are visible across the flat landscape. At the head of the alignment is a larger mound which acted as a moot site. Opposite this site where an important pagan temple stood, now stands the Old Uppsala church.

One of the many unanswered questions about long barrows in particular is why are they so long ? The first, and most obvious, theory was that they were constructed as a huge monument to some great royal chief, but the lack of emblems of royal prestige at most long barrows negates this as a theory. Michael Dames in his seminal work 'The Avebury Cycle'(4) suggests that the West Kennett long barrow is a monumental image of the living neolithic Great Goddess, in her Old Hag guise. As Dames himself writes "Long barrows are long because they show the Winter goddess as gigantic."

Entrance to the Underworld
In mythic tradition, as already stated, barrows were considered magical places, entrances to the realm of the goddess, the entrance seen by many as symbolising the vagina of the goddess and the interior her womb:

"The earth under which men are buried is the mother of the dead. The acceptance of such an explanation would have an important effect on the construction of burial places. The object of the tomb builders would have been to make the tomb as much like the body of a Mother as he was able. The same idea seems to have been carried out in the internal arrangements of the passage grave, with the burial chambers and passage perhaps representing uterus and vagina."(5)

The well known cromlech at Pentre Ifan, Wales, was known in folklore as 'The Womb of the Goddess Ceridwen'(6).

Recently respected meterologist Terence Meaden has discovered what he believes is a vulva carving in the centre of the largest 'blocking stone' at West Kennett long barrow(7).

In the story 'Pwyll Prince of Dyfed' in The Mabinogion, Pwyll dares to sit on a mound called Gorsedd Arberth and repeatedly sees a lady dressed in gold riding a white horse that could not be caught. She was Rhiannon. Pwyll eventually enters the underworld kingdom of Annwn where he exchanges places with its lord, Arawn and rules for a year(8). Another story of equal pagan imagery is Sir Gawain & the Green Knight(9), which sees Gawain's quest to find the Green Chapel, possibly a barrow, and his other-world initial style beheading game with the Green Knight(10). To those who entered the faerie realm there were countless hiddeen dangers. One day in 1692 the Rev. Robert Kirk was walking upon a faerie hill at Aberfoyle in the Scottish Trossachs, when he collapsed and died. If this had happend to anyone but the Rev. Kirk the incident would have passed with little interest. But the Rev. Kirk was no ordinary minister. In 1691 he had written a book entitled 'The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies' . It was believed that his soul was imprisioned in the Faerie realm awaiting the pertenant ritual to set him free(11).

Within Northern Europe the fertility deities the Vanir have close connections with burial mounds. Chief of the Vanir is the god Freyr, whose symbol is a ship, and at such places as Sutton Hoo we find evidence that a ship was buried in the barrow, possibly suggesting that the ship was to act as a vehicle to the otherworld. Norse tradition also tells that Svart Alfs (Dark Elves) were the dead ancestors of the land and they could be found in burial mounds. The Dark Alfs or Mound Elves of folklore are not to be confused with 'New Age' fantasies. In the Icelandic Kormak's Saga, a badly wounded warrior has the blood and flesh of a steer placed on an alf mound as a libation to healing. It was also considered great bad luck to build on mounds or to break branches off trees growing on mounds. They could also be great places of inspiration. There is a story in Flateyjarbok of a poet who gained his inspiration after sleeping on the mound of a dead poet, who appeared in a dream to teach poetry(12).

In Irish tradition the barrows were the 'hollow hills' and were the handy work of the Sidhe. Mortals could enter faerie land via the barrow(13). The links between barrows and faerie folk is a wide ranging and strongly held belief amongst most European cultures. Different cultures ascribe different beings to barrows and mounds. To the Norwegians they were called Thusser, the the Finnish they were called Maanvaki and to the Swedish they were known as Pysslinger-Folk. They are either portrayed as small ugly folk or beautiful, tall and thin.

For those wishing to communicate with the dead, barrows were the ideal place to venture. In the story of 'Waking of Angantyr' in the Elder Edda, the story describes Hervor going into a barrow when it was gaping open and wreathed with supernatural flame. There she confronted her dead father and requested his sword, Tyrfing, which had been forged by the dwarf Dvalin. Despite his warnings Hervor is finally given the sword for her show of courage(14).

This crossover between barrows as entrances to the realm of faerie and the dead is a curious one, which seems to indicate a strong link between faeries and the dead, even that, in certain circumstances, the dead become faeries as an evolutionary cycle(15). Barrows certainly played an important role in the life of early farming communities. Built to endure the harsh elements, the best examples of trying to understand the relationship between life and death, things temporal and spiritual, lie in Orkney. There seems to be strong archaeological evidence that tombs were considered to be houses of the dead, their design mirroring that of the houses of the living. Although we cannot say for certain, I believe that these tombs to the ancestors were visited by the family and community in a similar way that Victorian families used to visit places like Highgate Cemetery in London and hold picnics in the tombs of beloved family members. Echoes, albeit very faint, of something far older may exist at places like Fortingall, Tayside, where, every Samhain, a bonfire was lit on the Bronze Age barrow called Carn nam Marbh (Mound of the Dead).

Undiscovered Country
Near Mold in Clwyd, there was a tumulus known as Bryn-yr-ellylon, 'the hill of the fairies'.

Click image for a BBC News article about the collar

Legends grew up around this burial mound concerning a warrior figure dressed in gold armour that several local people claimed to have seen over the years. In 1833, workmen clearing the tumulus came across the skeleton of a tall man laid out and wearing an impressive gold collar (16). A similar story concerns Rillaton Barrow, Linkinhorne, Cornwall. Traditions tell of a Druid who lived in the barrow on Bodmin Moor, who offered passing hunters a drink from his golden cup.

Click for BBC article about the cup

One day a hunter came along who vowed to drink the cup dry. When he couldn't he galloped off on his horse still clutching the cup, but his horse fell, and both were killed. He was buried on the spot. When the round barrow was opened in 1818 it was found to contain a gold cup (17). Both the cup and the collar are now in the British Museum. A similar story has only recently come to light concerning the well known discovery of the Anglo-Saxon royal burial at Sutton Hoo(18). Since at least the Anglo-Saxon period barrows have also been seen as the repositories of great treasures, often guarded by a dragon(19). As fearful as dragons appeared, the lure of wealth was too great, and unfortunately countless barrows were ransacked - any treasures they may have held lost forever.

Of Things Undreamed Of...
Despite the discovery of human remains in many barrows, it would be an over-simplification to see them simply as burial houses. As Danny Sullivan, editor of The Ley Hunter, writes concerning Long Barrows: "It is likely that the latest of them were shrines rather than cemeteries, places from which the bones of ancestors were removed for the rituals of the living"(20). The practices of the Kogi Indian shamans may give us some interesting insights into acient barrow rituals. Would-be shamans are incarcerated in a cave from infancy, not being allowed to venture outside for several years. When the shaman is finally let out, he can 'see' the spirits of the landscape. Could barrows have been utilised for similar activities? Animal bones have been found in barrows such as Hetty Pegler's Tump (Uley tumulus) in Gloucestershire, where the jaw bones of wild boars have been discovered, leading to speculation that the animal was used as a family totem, a psychopomp, bridging the gap between the worlds(21). A similar explanation may explain the mysterious arrangement of three ox skulls along the axis of the Beckhampton long barrow, West of Avebury.

An often neglected aspect of barrows are 'blocking stones', physical barriers across the entrances to barrows but which do not prevent physical access to them. Two examples can be seen at Waylands Smithy in Oxfordshire and West Kennett in Wiltshire. What could be the purpose of these 'blocking stones'? The current paradigm in ley research links leys with 'spirit paths', and leading earth mysteries researchers Paul Devereux and Nigel Pennick have theorised that 'blocking stones' may have been erected to act as 'spirit traps', preventing spirits from entering or leaving the tomb(22).

Russian shaman and physicist, Evgeny Faidish, also links 'spirits' with landscape features such as barrows. During his work with the nomadic Khanty tribe of Siberia, Faidish enquired of the tribal shamans why 'spirits' favoured certain landscapes. He was told that they like porous soil, which helps to preserve and accumulate energy. The organic nature of such soils means that they used to be composed of living organisms which release energy which accumulates in the soil and which, in turn, feeds the 'spirits'(23).

It has been pointed out by several earth mysteries researchers that the design of barrows, alternating layers of organic and inorganic material, is very similar to the construction of an orgone accumulator - a device created by Wilhelm Reich to focus the amount of natural orgone or 'life force'. Reich used his accumulators as a healing device. The relationship between healing and natural sites is an intriguing aspect, as it seems that certain sites emit an increased natural radioactivity which can bring on a feeling of drowsiness. Recent research wortk into ancient sites seems to show that natural earth radiation can bring about an Altered State of Consciousness (ASC) which may affect the bodies natural healing process. This may sound strange but at the beginning of this century, radioactive caves in Colorado were used for health visits by some Americans in the same way that some people visit spas. Wells such as Sancreed in Cornwall have so far been proposed as dreaming/healing sites along with the Roman site of Lydney in Gloucestershire and, as we have already seen from Flateyjarbok, barrows were seen as valid places to gain inspiration. Could they also have been used as healing sites(24)? And, if they were used for healing, then maybe they were used for other things?

Recent research work at Waylands Smithy and other tumuli by Paul Devereux, Professor Robert Jahn and Brenda Dunne appears to suggest that such sites may have been deliberately designed for particular acoustic properties. In particular, the natural resonant frequencies of such sites were all within the human vocal range, and the chambers could thus act to amplify any pronouncements or chanting made from inside(25). Similar conclusions have also been made by archaeological investigations at megalithic tombs in this country(26). Recent visitors to Fourknocks passage tomb in Ireland noticed the rock art which forms an 'undulating line' running around the interior of the tomb. They decided to try an experiment, and chant, using the line of the rock art as a musical notation. One of the group reported afterwards: "A bright light appeared from the stones, ran around the top of them, and then rose upwards and disappeared"(27). This is not a one off experience, as similar experiences have been reported at various chambered tombs around the country(28). The archaeologist Aubrey Burl draws an evocative picture when he writes about a possible neolithic barrow ritual:

"Incantations may have been uttered around the skulls of totem animals before the bones and broken objects were deposited in the mortuary house, and then bonfires and feasts followed with the recitation of ancestral myths...."(29).

It is not just Earth Mysteries researchers and Pagans who suggest that barrows were not simply used for burials, as a recent article in the prestigious journal of the Prehistoric Society also makes the same point(20). Some academics have also been intrigued by the possible 'ritual' aspect of burial tombs and, at such places as Newgrange, its rock art has already been shown to embody 'entoptic' motifs which suggest they were produced by people familiar with ASCs(31), although this has been challenged recently by archaeologist George Nash(32). Even the very layout of some passage tombs may have been deliberately designed to match the 'tunnel' effect so often reported in Near Death Experiences (NDEs) (33). An interesting example of this can be seen at the great burial chamber of Bryn Celli Ddu on Western Anglesey. Not only is this an evolved site, being built on an earlier stone circle(34), but its main entrance apart from having an ox burial, is also aligned to the Beltaine sunrise(35).

Respected Earth Mysteries researcher Phil Quinn has also noticed that a large proportion of Long Barrows are situated on or near earth faults(36). Paul Devereux has also amassed some impressive data that suggests that rocks undergoing stress, such in areas as earth faults, can induce light phenomena and ASCs(37). This may also lead to some interesting speculative thought about the limited use of barrows in Christian Anglo-Saxon England. A classic example of middle Anglo-Saxon attitudes towards barrows can be seen with the eigth century Saint Guthlac, who made his cell inside a barrow, and suffered many torments while there(38). Could it be that the would-be initiate had to undergo a symbolic death and then rebirth from the Earth Goddess, having communed with the ancestral spirits, with a little help from the naturaly consciousness altering geology? A friend recently told me of a visit some years ago to a burial tomb in Jersey where he took some photographs. Upon looking at them later, he noticed what appeared to be faces on the interior walls of the tomb. In ancient times would this 'simulacra' have been enhanced to the would-be initiate, expectant of contact with his ancestors and possibly even high on hallucinogenics?

Barrows are a rich source of knowledge for those with the wisdom to listen and the urge to learn. And, please remember, it isn't just tourists and road builders who damage ancient sites, recent 'pagan' activity at West Kenett Long Barrow is caused by a mindless minority, but it affects the responsible majority. **

Further Reading
Hollow Hills - Jeremy Harte (At The Edge No.5 March 1997)
Megalithic Tombs and Long Barrows in Britain - Frances Lynch (Shire Publications 1997)

** Save Our Sacred Sites can be contacted at: 9 Edward Kennedy House, Wornington Road, London, W10 5FP. Please enclose a SAE.

Links to webpages about some of the sites mentioned in article:

Belas Knap Long Barrow
www.stone-circles.org.uk
Megalithic Sites and Mounds
The Modern Antiquarian

West Kennett Long Barrow
Megalithic Sites and Mounds
The Modern Antiquarian

Pentre Ifan Dolmen
The Modern Antiquarian
Stones of Wales

Sutton Hoo Burial Mounds
Sutton Hoo Society
www.archaeology.co.uk
Anglo-Saxon Heathenism

Carn nam Marbh Burial Mound
www.fortingall.com

Hetty Pegler's Tump Chambered Long Barrow
The Modern Antiquarian
www.stone-circles.org.uk
Megalithic Sites and Mounds

Waylands Smithy Chambered Long Barrow
The Modern Antiquarian
www.stone-circles.org.uk
Megalithic Sites and Mounds

Sancreed Well
The Modern Antiquarian

Fourknocks Megaltihic Passage Tomb
Knowth.com
Megalithomania

Newgrange Megalithic Passage Tomb
Knowth.com
Mythical Ireland